Sony DSC-F1 (1996)

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Sony announced this camera on 1996-08-22 together with the DKC-ID1 (DKC-D5PRO in Japan). The camera was introduced in Japan at the World PC EXPO 1996 and to Europe at the CeBIT 1997. The first of the CyberShot series and their first point-and-shoot digital camera clearly aimed at home consumers. Noteable about this camera was the swivel lens and the IrDA port. Capture time was about 2-3 seconds and continuous shooting for 20 minutes was also possible as taking four snapshots in a row in one second. The camera was perfect in every way except for an external memory card slot. Why Sony did not include this boggles me. The DSC-F1 was really sophisticated, just compare with another camera from 1996 like the Agfa ePhoto 308 and you can clearly see which company made it in the digital world. Needless to say the DSC-F1 won some 14 awards for it's design, functionality and versatility. This camera should be in any serious collector's sideboard.

Sidenote: please notice the missing Cybershot logo above the model name. This was later added to the DSC-F2 and F3.

All images © IvanLo from vintagecameralab.com